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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fifth-ranked University of Louisville baseball team finished up a seven-game homestand with a three-game series against Florida State beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. ET at Jim Patterson Stadium. Saturday's game is set for 1 p.m. ET, while Sunday's first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET. The Friday and Saturday games can be seen on ACC Network Extra, while the series finale will be televised on ESPNU. Radio coverage for all three games will be available on 93.9 The Ville.ABOUT THE CARDINALS
The Cardinals lost an 11-7 offensive affair on Tuesday night against in-state rival Kentucky. Alex Binelas and Henry Davis each hit home runs in the loss, their fifth and eighth of the season, respectively.
SERIES HISTORY
Louisville and Florida State have 37 previous meetings with the Seminoles holding a 28-9 all-time record against the Cardinals. Louisville is 6-11 against Florida State since joining the ACC in 2015. FSU is the only ACC program to have a winning record against Louisville since the Cardinals joined the league.
The last time the two programs met, Louisville took two out of three from the Seminoles in the final series of the 2019 regular season. Alex Binelas went 4-for-12 in the series, homering twice in the opener and driving in seven on the weekend. Lucas Dunn was 7-for-13 over the three games, tallying two doubles and scoring six times.
TEAM NOTES
- Louisville owns 121 conference wins since joining the ACC in 2015, the most conference wins during that time of any Power Five school.
- UofL has won 42 of its 56 ACC series (two series ended 1-1) since joining the league and is 44-10 in its series finales during that span, including a 14-6 record in rubber games.
- The Cardinals have won 21 of their 27 ACC series (one ended 1-1) at home since debuting in the conference.
- Louisville's offense ranks among the best in the ACC this season. The Cardinals currently lead the ACC in runs, hits, RBIs, on-base percentage, triples, total bases and stolen bases, while ranking second in batting average and slugging percentage, and third in walks.
- The Cardinals have been the one of the best in the country on the basepaths this season with 76 stolen bases, 42 more than anyone in the ACC. Levi Usher leads the ACC and country with 22, while Cooper Bowman is third in the ACC with 11, Luke Brown fourth with 10, and Henry Davis fifth with eight.
PLAYER NOTES
- Henry Davis has been the most consistent hitter for the Cardinals this season. Davis saw his 23-game hitting streak come to an end in the second game at Notre Dame, the first game he didn't record a hit this season. The sophomore is second in the ACC in batting average, hits, RBIs, total bases and on-base percentage, third in sluggling percentage, fourth in walks, and fifth in home runs, runs, and stolen bases. Davis has eight stolen bases after having just one through his first two seasons at Louisville.
- Alex Binelas has seen his bat start to heat up over the last two weeks. Over the last 11 games, the sophomore is hitting .310 (13-for-42) with two triples, four home runs, 15 RBIs and 11 runs scored. Binelas recorded two triples against Western Kentucky, becoming the first Louisville player with two triples in a game since Ty Young did so against Notre Dame on March 28, 2013.
- Trey Leonard is having the best season of his Louisville career in 2021. The junior currently leads the team with a .422 batting average. Leonard had a career night at Cincinnati going 4-for-6 with three RBIs against and hitting a go-ahead home run in the sixth, a game-tying double in the eighth and adding another double in the 10th. Over the last five games, Leonard is 11-for-20 (.550) with four doubles, a home run, eight RBIs and four runs scored.
- Levi Usher set a Louisville school record (since 2000) with five stolen bases in the win over Murray State. Usher is the national leader in stolen bases with 22, 10 more than anyone else in the ACC. Since joining the Cardinals, Usher is 33-of-36 (22-for-24 this year) on the basepaths in 43 career games.
- Michael Kirian has smoothly made the transition from closer to weekend starter this season. The southpaw took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in the series opener at NC State and tallying a career-high 13 strikeouts. He improved to 5-0 on the season with a win over Wake Forest, picking up 11 Ks for his second career double-digit strikeout effort. Since the start of the 2019 season, Kirian has a 1.74 ERA in 72.1 innings with 93 strikeouts.
- Luke Seed has started each of the last three weekends for the Cardinals. The left-hander has allowed just three earned runs in 16.2 innings for a 1.62 ERA. Seed has allowed just one run in all three starts, working 6.2 innings at Notre Dame and then 7.0 in game two against Wake Forest.
